Kitchen design

We haven't been out to see the house progress since last Friday, but I assume the only thing that has been done is the finishing of the garage foundation. Our builder thinks the framers will start this week, or next, so we'll head over in a couple of days to see what has been done.

I thought I would share our kitchen design with you. The kitchen sink that I wanted is iffy at the moment, as there is no easy way to center it under the 3-pane kitchen window and it will look odd if it is not centered. If we center it, we lose all kinds of space on either side of it and won't have room for the pull-out waste basket and recycling bin, so the kitchen sink is up in the air at the moment. I will probably have to go with a smaller one.


These photos are a bit skewed - the angle of the cupboards and counter are nowhere near that sharp (next photo), but it is the perspective that the photos were printed out at. The island is 2 levels and will be 2 different materials, but I haven't decided what those materials will be yet. The blue was supposed to be the Alkemi (http://bellsrus.blogspot.com/2007/08/kitchen-countertops.html), but it is more expensive than granite, so we will not be using it on the island. The lower side of the island is table height - 30" and the higher side is counter height - 36". The lower side will be for rolling out dough. The area at the far end is a beverage area - ice maker, small beverage refrigerator, wine glass storage, etc. and my second oven will be there. The door to the right leads to a walk-in pantry which will be lined with shelves.

This is the view of the kitchen from the adjoining family room, which has a fireplace and will be our dining room with a large table. On the right in the family room there will be French doors leading out to a patio area.

Trees, trees, and more trees!

DH met the builder at the property on Saturday morning and they walked around marking which trees need to be taken down. Most of the trees that have to be removed are scrubby trees, so it will actually look better with them gone. We can see the river again now that the leaves are off the trees. The builder previously had been unable to see the river - I think he's now fallen in love with our property!

We are hoping for the driveway to go in today or tomorrow. I think the builder is still waiting on the bank for the go-ahead. The bank sends someone out to take photos of the property to make sure that the builder hasn't done any work yet - something to do with making sure no one can put a lien on it. Once the photos are taken, the builder can start the project. The photographer actually went out to take photos and couldn't locate our property, so instead of calling someone for directions, he just left -- so we wait some more...

We have a light snow falling here today and lots of wind. It wouldn't be very nice weather for anyone to be out working on our house anyway. :-)

I think I've found my kitchen sink. There are a couple of sinks by Blanco, made of Silgranit, that I like the size of. Here is the one on the top of my list:

Overall Dimensions Length 37"" Width 20" Bowl Depths 9-1/2"; each bowl is about 18" square.

We will need to change the currently planned cabinet to a wider one to accomodate this sink, but there is a smaller cabinet to the left of the sink that we can get rid of in order to make this one larger, so it shouldn't be a problem. I also need to decide on the color of Silgranit that I want to use.

We have an appointment to meet with the Pella window rep on Saturday to finalize the windows and doors and the colors.

Loan closing!

Success! We closed on our building loan yesterday and expect that our builder will begin next week. The plan is to put in the driveway, cut down any trees that are in the way of the house, and then break ground (finally - only 3 months after we wanted to break ground).

For the quilters out there, I started working on my Quilt Diva pattern. She will hang on the door of my sewing studio in our new house. My friend and I went on a Quilt Shop Hop last June and I took the pattern with me so I could purchase the fabrics for her. I even found zipper fabric that I can use for the zipper on the suitcase! I have all the pieces cut out and need to fuse the smaller parts together and then finish assembling her. Isn't she fun?

Back to the house...I'm having trouble locating the kitchen sink that I want. I would like a sink with 2 large square or rectangular bowls. I've found one, but it is an apron front sink and I'm not sure I like that look for this house. It is wide though - almost 40" and the 2 bowls are each about 18" square which would be great! My other option is to have 2 separate sinks near each other...